LinkedIn is a popular professional social networking platform used by over 700 million members worldwide. With so many professionals and businesses on LinkedIn, it can be an incredibly valuable tool for networking, promoting your brand, finding job opportunities, connecting with clients, and more. But in order to get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to be strategic about the type of content you post.
Why does your LinkedIn content matter?
The content you share on LinkedIn serves multiple important purposes:
- It helps you build relationships and connect with other professionals in your industry
- It establishes you as an expert and thought leader
- It promotes your brand and offerings to potential customers/clients
- It improves your visibility and reach
- It enables you to engage with your target audience
In other words, your LinkedIn content is crucial for elevating your profile, attracting opportunities, driving traffic, and boosting engagement. But in order to achieve those results, you need to be posting content that resonates with your audience and aligns with your goals.
What types of content perform best on LinkedIn?
Here are some of the top-performing content formats to leverage on LinkedIn:
Industry insights and thought leadership articles
Posts that demonstrate your knowledge, expertise, and unique perspectives on industry topics tend to gain significant traction. These types of thought-leadership articles establish you as an authority in your field.
Company and product updates
Keep your audience informed about the latest news related to your business – new products/services, company milestones, awards won, etc. This content engages your existing connections.
Relevant third-party articles
Sharing value-add content from around the web shows you pay attention to what’s happening in your space. Make sure to comment on why you are sharing the article.
Behind-the-scenes content
Give your audience a look behind the curtain by sharing photos, videos, and posts about what’s happening inside your company. This humanizes your brand.
Q&A’s and AMAs
Hosting Q&A sessions is an easy way to generate engagement. You can ask your audience what topics they want you to cover, or have colleagues and employees answer questions about the company.
SlideShare Presentations
Upload visually compelling presentations to SlideShare and embed them in your LinkedIn posts. This multimedia content tends to attract more attention.
Job openings
Posting your latest job and career opportunities enables you to attract qualified candidates through LinkedIn.
Live videos
Broadcast short, engaging live videos to share company news, take your audience behind the scenes, or educate them on relevant topics. Live video stands out in the LinkedIn feed.
What topics resonate best on LinkedIn?
In terms of post topics, LinkedIn members tend to be most interested in content that:
- Provides actionable tips and best practices related to your profession/industry
- Educates them on the latest industry news, trends, and insights
- Offers career and professional development advice
- Discusses topics related to leadership, management, and business strategy
- Relates to their specific job function or role
Essentially, your content should be educational, informative, and relevant to your target audience. Focus on creating posts that will provide value for your connections.
How can you optimize LinkedIn posts for maximum visibility?
To help your LinkedIn content reach and engage as many people as possible, keep these best practices in mind:
- Draft attention-grabbing headlines by highlighting the value proposition upfront
- Use relevant hashtags in your posts so they appear in those content feeds
- Include eye-catching images, videos, slides, and other multimedia
- Leverage the publishing tools to properly format and structure long-form posts
- Post consistently at optimal times when your audience is most active
- Promote high-performing posts through paid LinkedIn advertising
- Follow up on posts with relationship-building messaging and conversations
- Analyze your post metrics to determine what content resonates best
What types of LinkedIn content should you avoid?
There are certain types of posts that tend not to perform well on LinkedIn and can even damage your brand:
- Self-promotional content focused solely on sales pitches and calls to action
- Outdated, inaccurate, or misleading information
- Controversial topics or rants
- Political or religious content
- Too-frequent posting (i.e. multiple times a day)
- Reposting the same content over and over
- Insensitive or offensive material
- Overly personal and informal content
Essentially, you’ll want to steer clear of content that lacks valuable insights for your audience or could alienate your connections. Keep the 80/20 rule in mind – only 20% of your content should directly promote your company/offerings, while 80% should focus on sharing informative, relevant content.
Conclusion
Posting engaging, high-quality content to LinkedIn on a consistent basis is key to maximizing the platform’s value. Focus on sharing a mix of industry thought leadership articles, company updates, third-party content, behind-the-scenes posts, Q&As, job listings, and more. Optimize your content for visibility and deliver value to your target audience. Avoid over-promotional or controversial content that could damage your brand. With the right strategic approach, LinkedIn can become an invaluable tool for growing your business and professional network.